A federal jury convicted a founder of a nonprofit on charges he forged the names of dead people to steal their houses.

Duane McKinney, 35, president of Brotherhood of Men Inc., was found guilty on 11 counts of fraud, theft and illegal money transactions.

He is scheduled to be sentenced July 15, and faces between seven and nine years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, according to the U.S. district attorney for the District of Columbia.

Prosecutors said McKinney used his organization to steal 14 properties and sell nine of them for a gain of $770,000.

Co-defendant Joe D. Liles, a notary public in Maryland, was accused of notarizing the dead people’s signatures. Liles pleaded guilty in January and will be sentenced May 30.

The case began in 2006 when an Arlington County, Va., police officer stopped to assist McKinney after his 2002 BMW stalled. The officer discovered McKinney had an outstanding warrant for simple assault and searched the car. Inside the trunk, police found a duffel bag stuffed with $159,040 in cash.

McKinney told police the money belonged to Brotherhood of Men, a nonprofit registered in D.C. whose mission was to assist disadvantaged youth with job training and advice about fatherhood. The nonprofit acquired the money by obtaining deeds on properties that the organization would then fix up and sell at a profit, McKinney told police.

smccabe@dcexaminer